Household wrench



Sept. 26, 1967 5 NAGY HOUSEHOLD WRENCH Filed Oct. 22, 1965 I 4 4- flG 2|45 No n T. E a W 0% 2 1% V 6 u m 2 M 9 w 2 s a m m. 3 0% 6 8 3 49 2 w 2m 1e 2 a $5 DTTORNE VS United States Patent 3,343,432 HOUSEHOLD WRENCHSigmund Nagy, Whittier, Calif., assignor of one-half to Lewis A. Nehaus,Whittier, Calif. Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,354 8 Claims. (Cl.813.42)

This invention has to do generally with wrenches and more particularlywith household Wrenches such as are designed for use in removingscrew-threaded covers from containers.

The invention resides in the provision of a household wrench having anelongated main body with a jaw at one end housing a ratchet bar with ajaw opposing the jaw on the body, a handle pivoted on the body and apawl mechanism operably connected between the body and the handle forengaging and advancing the ratchet bar into tight gripping engagementwith the cover or lid of a jar or the like disposed between the jaws.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel household wrenchdesigned for use in opening containers hav ing screw-type lids or coverswhich is also useful as a general-purpose wrench. In this connection itis an object to provide a tool that can be used for gripping varioustypes of objects in the manner of an ordinary wrench and that ice allyprojecting jaw 16. The body is cut away to provide an elongated slot oropening 17 in one side extending for a limited but substantial distanceback from the jaw. Mounted inside the body is a ratchet bar 18 which hasan integral laterally projecting jaw 19 at one end which is opposed tothe jaw on the body. law 19 extends through the slot 17 in the body andthe movement of the ratchet bar is limited by the end wall 20 thereof.The ratchet bar is reduced in width at 21 between the end portions 22and 23 and formed to provide the ratchet teeth 24. The ratchet bar is,of course, slideable within the body 15, longitudinally thereof.

For the purpose of operating the ratchet bar, I provide a lever assemblywhich includes a lever handle 26 which is conveniently contoured for thecomfortable grasping thereof by hand and this member is pivotallymounted on the body at 27 as by a rivet. The lever han dle extendsrearwardly from the pivotal point 27 outwardly of the body at an acuteangle thereto, as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, which illustrate thenormal position of the device when it is not being used. The member canalso be used for squeezing or pressing objects such as squeezing fruitor cracking nuts.

Another object is to provide a device of the type indicated which iseasy to use, requiring only one hand to operate including the step ofpreliminarily adjusting the jaws to move them into engagement with thearticle to be gripped. It is a particular object in this connection toprovide a tool embodying a ratchet mechanism in which a ratchet barcarrying a movable jaw is normally out of engagement with the operatingpawl and can be freely moved by hand or by gravity to the desiredadjusted position.

A further object is to provide a device of the type indicated, whereinthe ratchet pawl is normally disengaged from the ratchet, that hasnovelmeans for quickly and positively bringing the pawl into engagementwith the ratchet bar upon movement of the operating element.

Another object is to provide a unique ratchet mechanism by means ofwhich it is possible to obtain a relatively long stroke.

Still another object is to provide a wrench embodying a body and ahandle lever together with a ratchet bar in which there is no relativelongitudinal movement between the handle lever and body but'only pivotalmovement between the two.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and thefollowing description. Referring to the draw ings:

FIG. 1 is an inverted plan view of a device embodying the inventionshown applied to a jar top;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but on a larger scale and partlybroken away to expose the operating parts with portions of the device insection;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but broken away somewhat more andwith the parts in a different position; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views on lines 5-5 and 66, respectively, ofFIG. 3.

More particularly describing the invention, numeral 11 generallydesignates the household wrench of the invention and this is shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 as in position to grip a cover or lid 12 which may beassumed to be screwthreaded upon the screw-threaded neck 13 of a jar 14.

The device includes an elongated preferably flat tubular body 15 whichis provided at one end with a plate later- 26 may be made of sheet metaland comprises side walls 28 and 29, which partially receive the body 15,and the connecting edge wall 30.

Between the sides of the lever handle 26 I provide a pawl supportinglever 32 which is pivotally mounted at 33 on a support 34 on the edge ofthe body. Lever 32 car ries a pawl 35 which is pivotally mountedintermediate its ends at 36 on the outer bifurcated end 37 of the lever32. The pawl, which projects through an opening 38 in body 15, includesan outer end portion 40 which is longitudinally slotted at 41 and whichextends rearwardly at an acute angle to the remainder of the pawl. A pin43 on the handle lever is received in the slot. The inner end of thepawl is provided with a tooth 44 which is normally out of engagementwith the ratchet bar but which moves into engagement with a tooththereof upon pivotal movement of the handle lever toward the body asshown in FIG. 4 where the handle lever has been moved a part of the way.

I provide a coil tension spring 45 between the pawl and the support 34for the purpose of retracting the pawl from the ratchet bar and therebymoving the entire assembly to the normal position. The pawl has arearwardly facing shoulder 46 which acts as a stop by engaging the rearedge of the opening 38 under the force of the spring. I also provide aflat spring 48 on a post 49 of the handle lever which bears against theunder side of the inner end of the pawl and serves to insure the pawlbeing moved directly into engagement with the ratchet bar when thehandle is operated. The pawl has a shallow recess 50 to receive the baseof spring 48 and pin 49.

It will be apparent that with the construction described the pawl isnormally out of engagement with the ratchet bar and thus the latter canbe readily moved, even by gravity if the device is tilted appropriately,so as to bring the jaw 19 into engagement with the object to be gripped.Thereafter movement of the handle lever serves to effect a longitudinalstroke operation of the ratchet bar to the extent permitted by theobject being gripped between the jaws. It will be apparent that any typeof jaws may be employed, and if desired, various removable jaws may beused to suit the object to be gripped.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred form of myinvention, I contemplate that various changes and modifications can bemade therein without departing from the invention, the scope of which isindicated :by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A household wrench, comprising an elongated body, a ratchet barmounted on said body for sliding movement longitudinally thereof, saidbody and bar having opposed jaws at the forward ends thereof,respectively, a handle lever pivotally mounted at its inner end on saidbody at a point intermediate the ends thereof and normally disposed atan acute angle to the body, a pawl support lever pivotally mounted atone end on said body on an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of saidhandle lever but spaced rearwardly thereof, a pawl pivotally mounted onthe other end of said pawl support lever with its inner end engageablewith said rack, and an operable connection between the outer end of saidpawl and said handle lever.

2. The household wrench set forth in claim 1 in which spring means isprovided yieldably urging said pawl and handle lever away from theratchet bar and normally holding the inner end of said pawl spaced fromsaid ratchet bar whereby the latter can be freely moved.

3. A household wrench, comprising an elongated body, a ratchet barmounted on said body for sliding movement longitudinally thereof, saidbody and bar having opposed jaws at the forward ends thereof,respectively, a handle lever pivotally mounted at its inner end on saidbody at a point intermediate the ends thereof and normally disposed atan acute angle to the body, a pawl support lever pivotally mounted atone end on said body on an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of saidhandle lever but spaced rearwardly thereof, a pawl pivotally mountedintermediate its ends on the other end of said pawl support lever, theinner end of said pawl being adjacent said ratchet bar and enigageabletherewith, a connection permitting limited movement between the outerend of said pawl and said handle lever, and spring means yieldablyholding said pawl out of engagement with said rack bar with said handlelever in normal position.

4. The household wrench set forth in claim 3 in which the connectionbetween the outer end of said pawl and said handle lever comprises a pinand slot.

5. A household wrench, comprising an elongated body, a ratchet barmounted on said body for sliding movement longitudinally thereof, saidbody and bar having opposed jaws at the forward ends thereof,respectively, a handle lever pivotally mounted at its inner end on saidbody at a point intermediate the ends thereof and normally disposed atan acute angle to the body, a pawl support lever pivotally mounted atone end on said body on an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of saidhandle lever but spaced rearwardly thereof, a pawl pivotally mountedintermediate its ends on the other end of said pawl support lever, saidpawl support lever extending forwardly at an acute angle to the body andsaid pawl extending rearwardly at an acute angle to the body with itsinner end adjacent to said ratchet bar, said pawl having a slotted outerend portion extending rearwardly at an acute angle to the remainder ofthe pawl, a pin carried by said handle lever received in the slot insaid pawl, and spring means yieldably urging said pawl and connectedparts to a position assumed when said handle lever is in normalposition.

6. A household wrench, comprising an elongated flat tubular body havinga jaw formed at one end and extending laterally thereof, said bodyhaving an opening in its side extending from said jaw for a limited butsubstantial distance toward the other end of said body, a ratchet barmounted in said body and slideable longitudinally thereof, said barhaving a jaw at one end projecting laterally thereof and through saidopening in the body to oppose the jaw on the body, a handle leverpivotally mounted at its inner end on said body at a point intermediatethe ends thereof, said handle lever normally extending at an acute angleto an edge of the body in a direction away from the jaw end thereof, apawl support lever pivotally mounted at one end on said body on an axisparallel to the pivotal axis of said handle lever but spaced rearwardlythereof, a pawl pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the other endof said pawl support lever, the inner end of said pawl being adjacentsaid ratchet bar and engageable therewith, a connection permittinglimited movement between the outer end of said pawl and said handlelever, and a spring yieldably holding said pawl out of engagement withsaid rack bar with said handle lever in normal position.

7. The wrench set forth in claim 6 in which a second spring is providedyieldably urging the inner end of the pawl rearwardly and toward saidratchet bar to insure engagement thereof with the teeth of said ratchetbar when said handle lever is operated.

8. The wrench set forth in claim 6 in Which said pawl and said body areprovided with interengaging abutment surfaces limiting movement of saidpawl rearwardly of the body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 484,634 10/1892 Gray 81-3572,414,635 1/1947 Cook 813.42 2,492,834 12/1949 Bayler 81-357 3,224,08312/1965 Tipper 81-357 JAMES L. JONES, JR., Primary Examiner.

1. A HOUSEHOLD WRENCH, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BODY, A RATCHET BARMOUNTED ON SAID BODY FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, SAIDBODY AND BAR HAVING OPPOSED JAWS AT THE FORWARD ENDS THEREOF,RESPECTIVELY, A HANDLE LEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT ITS INNER END ON SAIDBODY AT A POINT INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF AND NORMALLY DISPOSED ATAN ACUTE ANGLE TO THE BODY, A PAWL SUPPORT LEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ATONE END ON SAID BODY ON AN AXIAL PARALLEL TO THE PIVOTAL AXIS OF SAIDHANDLE LEVER BUT SPACED REARWARDLY THEREOF, A PAWL PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ONTHE OTHER END OF SAID PAWL SUPPORT LEVER WITH ITS INNER END ENGAGEABLEWITH SAID RACKS, AND AN OPERABLE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE OUTER END OFSAID PAWL AND SAID HANDLE LEVER.